Experience-involvement, memorability and authenticity: The service provider's effect on tourist experience

The purpose of the research was to investigate how service providers can enhance memorable and authentic tourist experiences in on-site conditions, in the context of sightseeing tours. Based on scale development, the experience-involvement construct is introduced to measure on-site tourist experience. The role of on-site experience as a predictor of memorable and authentic experiences was emphasized and empirically tested, and four dimensions of on-site tourist experience were identified: emotional, mental, flow-like and social experience-involvement. PLS-SEM revealed that interactive service elements and customization have a significant effect on on-site, memorable and authentic tourist experience formation, however, organizational service elements (e.g. physical environment, comfort) do not. The findings not only contribute to the body of knowledge on tourist experience formation with potential managerial implications, but fuel the emerging academic and industry discussion about the differences between services generating satisfaction (only) and those leading to memorability.